Favre still owes Mississippi $600K

Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre has yet to pay back $600,000 he received from the state of Mississippi for multiple speaking events where he never showed up, authorities said Tuesday.

He promised to repay the state after an audit released in May 2020 revealed $1.1 million had been paid to Favre’s company, Favre Enterprises. The amount was part of $94 million in welfare spending that was “questioned” by auditors who said they either saw clear misspending or could not verify whether money was lawfully spent.

Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the U.S., and the $94 million was earmarked for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, also known as TANF.

Mississippi Community Education Center had contracts with the Mississippi Department of Human Services to spend money through TANF.

Favre made an initial payment of $500,000 to the state a few days after the report was released. But, Logan Reeves, a spokesman for Mississippi Auditor Shad White, said Tuesday that the auditor’s office has not heard since then from the Hallof-Famer who lives near Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

“After the initial media dustup, he stroked a check for $500 grand and gave a commitment, a voluntary commitment, to repay the rest in the coming months,” Reeves told The Associated Press. “And then, that didn’t happen.”